Reviewing New Chemicals under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)

New Chemicals and Pollution Prevention Efforts

By assessing new chemical substances before they are manufactured or imported, the New Chemicals Program is actively carrying out EPA's strategy to prevent pollution before it can occur. The program also supports development of safer chemical substances by minimizing or eliminating regulatory burdens on new chemicals if they will replace riskier substances already in the marketplace.

Learn about the Sustainable Futures Initiative and possible minimized regulatory burdens.

The New Chemicals Program strongly encourages industry efforts to prevent pollution. One of the ways this is accomplished is through the premanufacture notification process, which requests industry voluntarily to provide information about the pollution prevention attributes of the new chemical and about steps taken to reduce exposures to or releases of chemical substances. During the PMN review, EPA carefully considers this information in evaluating potential risks and benefits. The New Chemicals Program has an initiative to recognize new substances that will encourage pollution prevention (P2), and makes awards for useful innovations.

Learn more about the P2 Recognition Project.

As with all the exemptions to full PMN reporting, the low release and low exposure (LoREX) chemicals exemption was designed to support EPA's overall pollution prevention strategy. The LoREX exemption, because it is available only for materials whose exposure is controlled at very low levels, encourages companies to develop manufacturing, processing, use, and disposal techniques which minimize exposures to workers, consumers, the general public, and the environment.

Learn more about the LoREX.